Touched lives of many

Sosilawati Lawiya

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN millionaire entrepreneur Sosilawati Lawiya's life was a colourful yet controversial rags-to-riches story.

The woman from Kampung Sri Menanti, Sri Medan in Batu Pahat, Johor struggled in her early days along with her 13 siblings, to the extent of tapping rubber to supplement the family income. There was even a time in her early years when she had to go from door-to-door to sell cosmetic products, reported the New Straits Times.

Sosilawati used her savings over 13 years to establish Nouvelle Beauty Centre Sdn Bhd, the retailer of Nouvelles Visages (NV) brand of beauty products, in 1994 with an authorised capital of RM500,000 (S$215,900) and an issued capital of RM200,000.

Within 10 years, she had 300 stores and stockists throughout the country including Brunei, Singapore and Thailand.
She and her daughter Erni Dekritawati Yuliana Buhari were the directors of the company which had total assets of RM6.37 million, total liabilities of RM5.01 million and reserves amounting to RM1.16 million. In the financial year ended 2007, the company made a net profit of RM183,173 and a revenue of RM7.54 million.

In 2007, Sosilawati was one of the six women who won the Johor state 'Wanita Nadi Negara' award for their outstanding contributions and achievements in community service, business and nation building.